Railway-track



H. E. SPEYER.

RAILWAY TRACK.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.6.|9|1. nENEwED JAN. 18. |919.

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Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. l9l. RENEWED JAN. I8. ISIS. 1,314,024.

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RAILWAY TRACK.

APPLICATION. FILI-:D ocT. 6. I9II. IIEIIEwED IAN. Ia. I9I9.

1,314,024. Patented y .26,1919.

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vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E. SPEYER, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO ECONOMY RAIL COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F TENNESSEE.

RAILWAY-TRACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Alle'.4 26, 1919.

Application filed October 6, 1917, Serial` No. 195,179. Renewed January 18, 1919. Serial No. 271,885.

To all 'whom it may conce/m:

Be it known that I, HERBERT E. SrEYnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Knoxville, in thecounty ot' Knox and State ot Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Tracks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My improvement relates particularly to railway tracks used Jor the running of relatively light cars, such ears as are used in mines and quarries and similar situations.

The object oit the invention is to provide a track construction requiring` the use ot' a minimum amount of steel or iron in 'forming the rails and in which the term oi service can be prolonged by change of position of parts, and in which the members forming the rails are interchangeable and reversible, and in which provision is made for the easy and eit'eetive joining of the meeting ends of the rails.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan of a piece of traekage embodying my improvement;

Fig. 2 is an upright cross section on the line, 2*-2, of Fig. 1, looking toward the right;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a rail, portions being broken away;

Fig. L is a perspective View showing the ends ott two rails in alinement with each other in position to be moved endwise toward each other into the working position;

Fig. 5 is a plan of an angle bar cut into form for bending' to become a part of a frog;

Fig. 6 isa wood block which is to be eut for i'orrning the body ot a frog;

Fig. 7 shows the body of a frog;

Fig. 8 shows a complete frog.

Referring to said drawings, A, A, are ordinary wood ties of any desired dimensions, t'or example, 'four inches high and tive inches wide. B, B, are main track rails resting on said ties. C, C, are branch track rails resting on said ties.

The rails of said tracks are composed of a wood member, D, and a metal member, E. The wood member, D, is of ,suitable shape to adapt it to be seated firmly upon the ties and to 'form a firm scat 'for the metal member. In practice I have made the wood member two inches high and four inches wide and ten feet long', one ot the wide faces resting' fiatwise on the ties. (See particularly IFig. 2). The members, D, of adjacent rails are made to abut endwise against each other.

The metal member, Il, is ot' angle form in cross section and is laid parallel to and upon the wood member, D, on the inner upper edge thereof. In practice I have used angle steel having flanges one and one-halt' inches wide and three-sixteenths of an inch thick, the length ot said member being ten feet, the same as the length ot the wood member. But, in placing the metal angle member on the wood member, the ends ot the angle member are not made even with the ends of the wood member. On the contrary, the angle member is placed upon the wood member so as to leave twelve inches, or some other desired length, project at one end, while at the other end the wood member projects an equal distance. rl`he angle member is secured to the wood member by nails, F, extending through holes, G, Jformed in the lflanges ot' the angle member, the nails eX tending through the upper flange being' npright and the nails extending through the upright flange being horizontal. The number ot' nails thus used is to be sutlicient to firmly secure the metal member to the companion wood member. In the flanges of the projecting portion of the angle member are 'formed holes, I'I, II. When the rails are placed into working position on the ties, such projecting portion of the angle member extends over the adjacent wood member, D. Since the projecting portions ot the angle members and ot the wood members are made equal, the projecting portion of the angle member will extend along the pro-V in order that the heads of the nails may not project outside of the faces of the angle member.

The wood membersare secured to the tires 1 by upright nails or spikes, I, extendingY through said members into the ties.

In manufacturing, the wood members, D, are all cut of the same thickness, width, and length, and they need no special shaping, and they can be placed with either end in either direction and with either of the two broad faces turned upward. The angle members are or ordinary iron or steel angle shape readily procured on themarket and needing no special shaping. They require merely to be cut crosswise and to be proi vided .with the holes, G and H. As above bers.

stated, the length of these angle members is the same as the length of the wood mem- Hence, if the woodV members are cut to a length often feet, the angle members are also cut to a length of ten feet. Forms or gages may be used for applying the langle members to the wood members with uniform projection ofthe ends.v In applying the angle member to the wood member, either end of the angle member may bevapplied to a chosen end of the wood member, this involving placingV either of the flanges of the angle member upon the upper face of the wood member. When thus completed, the rails (consisting of a wood member and an angle member) areto be transported to the place where the tracks are to be laid, and they are in convenient form for such transportation.

Vhen the tracks are in use, the upper flange of the angle member forms a tread for the car wheels, while the upright flange of the anglevmember resists bending of' the horizontal flange and also take-s wear from the flanges of the car wheels. Vhen the angle member has been used long enough to wear away and thus weaken the horizontal flange, the angle member may be detached from the wood member and turned end-forend and again secured to the wood member, thus bringing the other of the flanges of j the angle member upon the upper face of the wood member and making said iange serve as a tread for the car wheels.

The manner of oining two tracks by means of a switch will next be described.

At B1 one of the rails B, B, is curved out of the course of the main track into the course of one of the rails of the switch track and joined. to said rail at B2., A frog, J

(Figs. l and 8) is set into the course of the other rail, C, and of the adjacent rail, B, of the main track. A rail section, K, is placed into the-course of said rail, B, in the space between the apex of said frogand the rail portion, B1, a gap, K1, being left at each end of the section, K, for the passage of fianges of the car wheels. From the apex of the frog, J, a switch point, L, extends diagonally across the space between the rails, B, B, in the course of the adjacent rail of the switch track. Adjacent said frog an upright bolt, L1, extends through the switch point, L, into the adjacent tie, whereby said point is pivoted for movement in the horizontal plane. Between the point of the frog and the switch point, L, isla space, L3, Ywide enough for the passage of the anges of the car wheels. When the free end of the switch point, L, is set away from the adjacent rail, B, cars approaching the switch from the right will continue on the main track. Vhen the free end of said switch point is in the contact with the adjacent rail, B, the wheels of a car approaching from the right will be turned by said point onto the switch track, the iianges of the car wheels going through the gaps or spaces, K1, K1.

The rail section, K, is composed of awood member, D, and a metal angle member, E, as already described concerning the full length rails;but the ends of the section, K, are cut obliquely so as to form upright faces parallel to the course of the rails,C, C. The switch point,-L, is also formed of a wood member, D, and a metal 'anglemembeig E, isimilar to the construction of the full length rails; but the wood member of said point is curved to make a gradual approach toward the outer rail, B; and the free end of the point, L, is cut diagonally in an upright plane to form an upright face, L4, to lie against the adjacent rail, B, and establish approximate continuity between the inner upright faces of said rail and said point.

The frog, J, is composed of a wood body, J1, and an angle member, E. The wood body, J, is in the form of an elongated triangle. Said body may be economically made by cutting'Y a rectangular block ofwood (Fig. 6) along the diagonal line, J 3, to form' two pieces, J 2, and then reversing one of said pieces and joining the pieces edge-toedge as shown in Fig. 7 Near the middle of an angle member, E, of proper length,

the horizontal flange is cut away, as shown,

in Fig. 5, onV angles which will allow the cut edges, J4, of said flange to meet when the member has been bent horizontally, on the apex of the angle formed by said Vcut faces, far enouoh to allow the angle member to be itted-to tie side edOes of the body, l, of the block. At one sic e of the block, the

angle member projects beyond the wood member, J1, a distance equal to the projection of theangle members on the rails, and at the other side of the frog, the angle member is correspondingly shorter than the adjacent side of the wood member, whereby the latter projects said Vdistance beyond the angle m'ember. Thus any one of the complete rails "may be applied to either side of the frog, theangle member of said rail 1n one ease overlapping the wood member, J1, of the frog and the angle member of the frog, in the other case overlapping the wood member of said rail.

The frog is secured to the ties by means of' large nails or spikes.

I claim as my invention,

l. In `the art herein described, ra rail con'iprising a wood member and a reversible metal angle member, said members being of equal length and the wood member' having 4upright and horizontal longitudinal faces and the angle member having flanges either of which is suited to be placed on the upper face of said rail for use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of the wood member with one flange resting on the upper horizontal face of the wood member and with the other flange resting against one of the side upright faces of the wood member, and means extending through said flanges and into the wood member for securing the angle menrber and the wood member to each other, substantially as described.

2. In the art herein described, a rail comprising a wood member and a reversible metal angle member, said members being of equal lengt-h and the wood member having upright and horizontal longitudinal faces and the angle member having Hanges either of which is `suited to use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of the wood member with one end projecting beyond the adjacent end of the wood member and with one flange resting on the upper horizontal face of the wood member and with the other flange resting against one of the side upright faces of the wood member, and means extending through said flanges and into the wood member for securing the angle member and the wood member to each other, substantially as described.

3. A railway track formed of ties and rails comprising a wood member and a reversible metal angle member, said members being of equal length and the wood member havin'r upright and horizontal longitudinal faces and the angle member having flanges either of which is suited to be placed on the upper face of said rail for use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of the Wood member with one flange resting on the upper 4horizontal face of the wood member and .and into the wood member for securing the yangle member and the wood member to each other, substantially as described.

4. A railway Itrack formed of rails comprising a wood member and a reversible metal angle member, said members being of equal length and the wood member having upright and horizontal longitudinal faces and the angle member having flanges either of which is suited to use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of .the wood member with one end projecting beyond the adjacent end of the wood member and with one flange resting on the upper horizontal face of the wood member and with the other flange resting against one of the side upright faces of .the wood member, and means extending through said flanges and into the wood member for securing the angle member and the wood member to each other, the projecting portion of the angle member overlapping and being secured to the wood member of' the adjoining rail, substantially as described.

5. A main railway track and a switch track forlned of rails comprising a wood ,member and a reversible metal angle member, said members being of equal length and the wood member having upright and horizontal longitudinal faces and the angle member having flanges either of which is suited to use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of the wood member with one flange resting on the upper horizontal face of the wood member and with the other flange resting against one ofI the side upright faces of the wood mem'ber, and means extending through said flanges and into the wood member for securing the angle member and the wood member to each other, and a frog composed ef a wood body and a single angle member extending along two sides of said body and having one flange cut away at the point of the frog, substantially as deseribedh (i. A main railway track and a switch track formed of rails comprising a wood member and a reversible metal angle mem ber, said members being of equal length and -the wood member having upright and horimntal longitudinal faces and .the angle member having flanges either of which is suited to use as a tread for wheels, and the angle member being applied lengthwise of the wood member with one flange resting on the upper horizontal face of the wood member and with the other flange resting 'flanges and into the Wood member for securing the angle member and the Wood member to each other, and a frog composed of e Wood body and en angle member, the Wood body projecting at one side and the angle member projecting at the other side of the frog, substantially as described In testimony whereof I have signed my J0 name, this 25th day of September, in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

HERBERT E. SPEYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissionfer of Patents,

v Washington, D. C." 

